Skies (15 page)

“Benji,” Gavin said. When the boy didn’t respond, Gavin said his name a little louder. “Benji!”

The boy jumped and slipped on the rock. He teetered for a moment, arms flailing. A look of panic washed over Benji’s face as he started to fall, then Evrouin was there. The tall warrior put a steadying hand on the boy’s back and pushed him back upright.

“Careful, boy,” Evrouin said, shooting Gavin a hard look.

Benji swallowed hard and wiped the back of his hand across his sweaty forehead.

“Are you alright?” Gavin asked.

Benji nodded.

“Good,” Gavin continued. “I didn’t mean to startle you. You see that group of women over there? Run over there and ask a woman called Farah to come over here. Tell her Gavin asked her to let you help the women over there with their tasks.”

Benji’s eyes narrowed. “I can see what you’re trying to do. I know when I’m not wanted under foot.” The boy put on a look of severe affront, but turned and walked away. His steps were far more cautious this time.

Farah arrived a few minutes later.

“Alright, Gavin,” Cobb said. “What’s with all the secrecy? Did you speak with Brisson or not?”

Gavin snorted. “He was too busy to see me. So I decided to ignore his assignments.”

Evrouin grinned in open approval, but Cobb frowned. “You know that’s treading on loose sand, Gavin,” Cobb said.

“I need the two of you to start organizing your patrols and getting a lay for the land around here,” Gavin said as if Cobb hadn’t spoken. “Cobb, you’ll be in charge of the aevian casts. Evrouin, you’ll lead the foot patrols.”

“Casts?” Evrouin asked, brow furrowing.

“Patrols. That’s what the Roterralar called a group of aevian warriors.”

Cobb grunted. “I can’t walk fast, but I’d rather be on the ground, if it’s all the same to you.”

Gavin nodded and felt a momentary glimmer of satisfaction before glancing sidelong at Farah. Her glare would have slain a sailfin pack, but she met his eyes and gave him the faintest of nods. It was the single most grudging acceptance Gavin had ever seen.

“Fine. Evrouin, you’ll be in charge of the aevian patrols under Farah’s direction and Cobb will be in charge of the foot patrols,” Gavin said.

Evrouin didn’t look too pleased, though Farah’s glare softened slightly. They all nodded to show their agreement, though Cobb spoke up after a moment.

“Are you sure we should be doing this? Maybe we should just do what Brisson wants. There’s peace and safety here.”

Gavin frowned at the man. Hadn’t the two of them already had this discussion? Cobb was an organized man, not a cautious one. Though the two traits were often mistaken for one another, they weren’t the same.

“Just give in,” Evrouin asked, voice hard. “Submit like cowards just because we’re tired? Where is the strength or honor in that?”

Cobb’s face darkened and he scowled at Evrouin. “That’s not what I’m saying. There’s no honor in doing things just for the sake of doing them. There’s no strength in letting the few of us who still live as the legacy of the Rahuli die in the vain attempt to protect complete strangers.”

“We’re not protecting strangers,” Gavin said softly. “We’re protecting our own people.”

“These here are not our people.”

“I’m not talking about Brisson’s people, or any of the former slaves of the Orinai,” Gavin said, his voice hardening. “I’m talking about our actual people. The Rahuli. How long do you think these untrained, former slaves would last against the armies of the Orinai? How long do you think it would take an Honor Squad to cut through these people and get to ours? Do you really think they stand a chance at all without us?”

“Well said, Gavin.” Farah didn’t look at Gavin as she spoke, but her expression had softened even further, as she sat down on a boulder near him

“Fine, Gavin,” Cobb said. “You’re right. But I still say caution is needed. Don’t do anything foolish.”

Evrouin rolled his eyes. “We’ll do it, Gavin. Brisson will give in if he has any sort of intelligence. We’ve got things he needs.”

“Such as?” Farah asked. Her voice was neutral, but Gavin knew her well enough to hear the hints of frost coalescing around each word.

“Warriors, the aevians, and mystics.”

“Exactly,” Gavin said. “Those are our leverage. We’ll organize and, before too long, he won’t be able to ignore us. Farah will be in charge of the eyrie and the mystics. She’ll train those she can and send some of them out on each of your patrols. They’ll answer to you during the patrols, but, in the end, they follow Farah. The aevians are also hers to assign to those who are unbonded.”

Gavin expected Evrouin to protest, but he simply nodded and then inclined his head toward Farah, an act which surprised Gavin. Perhaps he hadn’t given Evrouin the credit he deserved.

Farah, for her part, didn’t acknowledge the movement.

“Keep it small at first, only five or so men you trust, then add over the coming weeks.”

Cobb grunted and Evrouin nodded.

“What if some of Brisson’s lot try and stop us?” Cobb asked.

“Don’t let them.”

***

Farah watched Cobb and that monster Evrouin clamber back down the rocks with Gavin, feeling a rush of emotions course through her, most of which conflicted with each other. She would never have let Evrouin anywhere near her aevians or even the eyrie itself if Gavin hadn’t asked.

Idiot man.

Farah wasn’t sure if she meant Evrouin or Gavin at that exact moment. She tossed her hair, letting the blond tresses flip back over one shoulder and blew out a long breath through her nose. Gavin could be so sands-cursed frustrating sometimes. But she loved him anyway.

“I love him,” Farah said in a whisper, bringing a hand to her mouth.

This was the first time she’d ever put it in those exact terms, though now that she thought about it she realized she’d loved him for a while now. The thought terrified her.

She turned and headed back to the other side of the eyrie, being careful of where she stepped. Despite the fact that she was as nimble and agile as any of the Rahuli, she was distracted and didn’t want to slip on the loose stones. The rock itself was slick and strange, nothing whatsoever like the rough, red sandstone with which she was familiar. Though the Sharani Desert had been a hard, hellish life, Farah missed it.

But Gavin is here.

Gavin is here.
She really didn’t understand how the man had come to be so important to her. From a small girl, Farah had never had any intention of falling for any man, let alone one who had been an outcast. No, Farah had spent her entire young life working hard to master her relampago powers and be the best mystic she could be. Sarial, sands take her, had been the hero Farah had always wanted to be. Her betrayal had hit Farah harder than Kaiden’s had. And then she’d lost her family—

No.

Farah dismissed those memories, skirting around an area of loose rock and dirt. They were still too painful. Too fresh. Their death had only reaffirmed her design to remain alone and focus on her powers, on her ability to protect and defend. She’d seen the Rahuli clanswomen in the Oasis and even her own mother and sisters, huddled and waiting to be protected.

Waiting to
die
.

Farah wouldn’t be that. When her time came, she would go kicking and screaming, clawing her way through whatever stood in her way.

That was why being with Gavin, being in love with him, was so troubling. Love was the purest form of trust, of understanding. It was like standing there, waiting for your heart and your emotions to be saved by someone else. It didn’t make any sense at all. And yet, it felt right.

Farah sighed and pushed those thoughts away. The jumbled emotions were harder to tame.

“Is that Gavin?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

Farah started and slipped on the rock. Thankfully, she didn’t slide far and landed on her feet on a smaller rock beneath the boulder on which she’d been standing.

“I’m sorry!” a small boy said, rushing up to her with wide eyes and fidgeting hands as if he was about to reach out to steady her but wasn’t sure if he should. “Are you alright?”

Farah frowned at the boy—he’d been the messenger that had come with Cobb and Evrouin and had been sent to fetch her earlier—then held out a hand and waved him back.

“I’m fine. Sands knows, it will take more than slipping on a rock to do me harm.”

The boy nodded and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He still looked nervous and Farah softened her expression.

“Really, I’m fine,” she said.

“I’m glad,” the boy said, then looked past her to where Gavin and the other two were heading out of the eyrie. “Master Gavin told me he would show me around this place, here. Do you think I should go after him?”

Farah smiled. “He told you that, did he?”

“That’s right,” the boy said, shifting his weight forward, as if he were about to run. “Should I go run after him, do you think?”

Farah laughed. The boy had a sense of earnestness that reminded her of Gavin, in part. In all honesty, it was probably one of the reasons why she loved him. He was earnest, stubborn, and positive, a strong counterpoint to her own grim outlook at life. So different from anyone else she’d ever met . . . Farah trailed off, realizing that the boy was still waiting for an answer and looking more and more anxious by the second.

“No, leave him be. I can show you around here,” she said.

“Really? You’d do that for me?” he asked. “My name’s Benji, by the way. I run messages and stuff like that. It’s not very important, but it’s better than working in the fields or with the gatheriu, at least that’s what me mother would say.”

Farah couldn’t help but smile a little at the torrent of words. His accent was thick, but Benji’s meanings were clear. It was nice to smile. That was another thing that both Benji and Gavin shared, apparently. They brought her light in the darkness.

“Come on,” she said. “I’ll show you the aevians up close.”

“The Rahuli, now slaves to the Orinai, were already wielding the lesser magics when the Orinai arrived from the east.”

—From the Discourses on Knowledge, Volume 15, Year 1023

Benji was waiting for him just outside the door. Gavin hid a smile as he turned and shut the door of the hut behind him, careful to not wake Shallee or her sleeping infant. The child had fussed for most of the night and only now slept peacefully, nestled against his mother’s chest.

“Back again, Benji?” Gavin said, pulling his cloak tight about his shoulders and walking down the street in the direction of the administration building.

“You going back to see Master Brisson again?” Benji answered, falling in beside Gavin with a little skip in his step.

This time Gavin couldn’t help but smile. There was a streak of wit and sarcasm in the boy as wide as the street.

“I am.”

Benji grumbled something under his breath and kicked a loose stone across the street, where it struck the wall of one of the huts with a thunk.

“What was that?” Gavin asked.

“Nothing.”

Gavin stopped and gave Benji a flat look.

Benji squirmed under the look and shuffled his feet. “All you do is just sit there,” Benji complained. “I mean, five days of sitting there and bothering Master Shaw is boring.”

“You don’t
have
to sit there with me, you know,” Gavin said, resuming his walk and adjusting his sword at his belt. “You could run messages or work the fields, from what Shaw has implied.”

Benji snorted and stuck one of his hands into the band of his pants. Gavin shook his head and let the conversation lapse. Since he had first met the boy, Benji had been there all five days. At first, Gavin had attempted various means of shooing him away, but the boy was persistent and eventually Gavin gave in and let the boy follow him around. When Gavin had asked after the boy’s family late one evening after a long day of waiting for Brisson followed by helping Cobb circumspectly map out the perimeter of the little valley, Benji had gone quiet for a while and not spoken to him again for several hours the next day as well. Gavin suspected the boy was an orphan, despite the boy occasionally referring to his mother, but didn’t press the issue.

“It’s warmer today,” Benji said offhandedly. They turned down another street and were able to make out Brisson’s building over the tops of the other buildings.

“Is it?” Gavin said, tugging his cloak tighter about his shoulders. “I still feel like I’ve had snow tossed down my back all the time. I don’t see how you run around without shoes.”

Benji grinned and jumped into the air, knocking the heels of his bare feet together in the air. His lanky brown hair fluttered about in the wind and fell into his eyes. “You get used to it. Real winter isn’t even here yet. It’ll truly be cold then. And you watch out. The boys ‘round here will get you when you’re not looking.”

Gavin shuddered, though he tried not to let Benji see. “I don’t like the cold.”

“That’s because you’re from the hot, hot desert,” Benji said knowledgeably, giving Gavin a serious look. “If you put me in that heat, I’d probably melt. Just working the smoke weed fields during midsummer was bad enough.”

“Smoke weed?”

It was Benji’s turn to give Gavin a look, one which clearly said Gavin’s question was equivalent to asking what the sun or stars were.

“The plant old men smoke to try and look important.” Benji spoke slowly and deliberately, as if talking to a small child. “You know, the stuff that grew on Master Nikanor’s plantation?”

Gavin shook his head. “I’m not familiar with it.”

Benji whistled, then kicked a rock across the ground into the side of a nearby hut. He cast a sidelong look up at Gavin out of the corner of his eyes, then shrugged. “You’re really strange, Gavin, you know that?”

“I am who I am, Benji.”

Benji rolled his eyes, then paused, looking up at Brisson’s building. They were only a few feet away from the front door.

“Are you sure you want to do this again?” His voice dripped with desperate entreaty.

“You don’t have to come with me, you know.”

Benji’s face firmed into a stubborn line and he practically leapt through the doors into the building. Gavin held back a little laugh, which caught in his throat when Benji suddenly darted back out of the room again. Indistinguishable shouting followed him out of the room.

“Don’t go in there,” Benji said, seriously. “There’s a crazy man in there.”

The voices got louder and, with a sickening feeling, Gavin recognized one of the speakers. Ignoring Benji’s protests, Gavin pushed through the swinging doors.

Shaw stood behind his desk, expression dark and clouded, while Brisson stood alongside him, expression dark and murderous. Two other men, their backs to Gavin, stood facing Brisson and Shaw. One of them was Darryn, the new magnetelorium. The other Gavin didn’t recognize, but was holding Darryn by one arm in a rough grip.

“You do not own me, slave man,” Darryn hissed. “I don’t answer to you or yours.”

“You’re not permitted to travel beyond the borders of this valley.” Brisson’s voice was hard and matter of fact, as if he were explaining something to a stubborn child. “Not without my express consent.”

“I sent him,” Gavin said before Darryn could respond.

Brisson and Shaw looked up. Shaw’s expression grew even darker.

“You sent him outside the border?” Brisson asked. “Whyever would you do that?”

Gavin scratched his beard as if thoughtful, grateful that Darryn didn’t speak up and argue the lie. Neither Darryn nor his captor turned to look his way.

“If you’d taken the time to meet with me the last few days I’ve been here, you would probably know that,” Gavin said, coolly. “Since you haven’t, I think it would be wise if we took the time to discuss it now.”

Brisson folded his arms across his chest as if to say, “I’m waiting.”

“In private,” Gavin clarified. He felt surprisingly calm, despite the sprinkle of tension building in the corners of the room.

“I am incredibly busy right now,” Brisson said, voice gaining a touch of impatience. “I don’t have the time for a meeting.”

“I think you should make time,” Gavin said. “If you were about to do what I think you were, and punish or lecture one of my people, I think now would be not only the appropriate time for a private meeting, but the perfect time. It could get most unpleasant if you continued in thinking the Rahuli were under your powers to detain as you saw fit.”

Gavin let the silence hang in the air, feeling the tension grow to the point that it melded with the silence, forming an uncomfortable knot. The man holding Darryn turned his head and glanced at Gavin in the silence and Gavin recognized him. Tadeo, one of the guards who’d brought their companion to the healing room on the night before Samsin was killed.

“Fine,” Brisson hissed. He stepped away from Shaw and pushed open one of the doors, not looking to see if Gavin followed.

Gavin didn’t follow immediately. After all, Brisson had made him wait for six entire days; it was Gavin’s turn to let Brisson wait for a change. Gavin knew it was petty, but he didn’t care.

“Darryn,” Gavin said, though his eyes locked onto Shaw’s gaze and held him there. “Wait for me outside, will you? There’s a boy named Benji somewhere out there. Have him fetch Cobb and Evrouin, please.”

“We’re not finished with him,” Shaw snapped, but before he could object any further, Tadeo had released his grip on Darryn’s arm and the Rahuli man had pulled away.

“As you wish,” Darryn said, nodding toward Gavin. He added a hasty “sir” at the end before exiting, his eyes holding no actual remorse in them. With a note of irritation, Gavin realized he didn’t see any gratitude in them either.
Fine then.
He hadn’t done it entirely for Darryn’s benefit. It had earned him an audience with Brisson, after all, and that could prove worth the trouble in the end, if he could get the man to see reason.

“Are you coming or aren’t you?” Brisson’s angry voice sounded from the other room.

“Just finishing up a few things first,” Gavin called. “You understand.”

He nodded at Shaw, smiled at Tadeo who regarded him with a blank expression, and then entered the room where Brisson had vanished. For a moment, Gavin thought he’d accidentally entered the wrong room, even though he knew he hadn’t. Every bit of wall was covered in maps, some intricately colored and as large as half the wall, others vague and drawn in charcoal on canvas. Gavin recognized the vague outline of the valley they were in on one of the maps, though most of the others were completely foreign to him. Some of the maps had annotations on them. Others simply had pins or small colored dots on them, depicting what Gavin did not know.

“Close the door.”

Brisson sat behind a massive wooden table that was as covered with papers as were the walls. Except for the papers on the desk were arranged in stacks and piles, some with paperweights holding them down, others loose and ragged. Gavin closed the door and turned back to Brisson, only then noticing how haggard the man looked. There were bags under the man’s eyes and what seemed a permanent crease in his forehead. More than that, for a moment, Gavin recognized the deep-seated exhaustion of a man sliding beneath the surface of the sand and struggling to breathe, the face of a leader still struggling to understand how to do everything that was expected of him.

The next moment that haggard face was covered by a mask of irritation and anger and Gavin was immediately reminded that this was the man who’d sentenced Samsin to be stoned to death and then carried out the execution. Samsin had been, by his own admission, a murderer, but the whole experience left Gavin with a shiver running down his spine whenever he considered the look on Brisson’s face and the way the crowd had seem to delight in Samsin’s death. It left Gavin loathe to trust Brisson with the lives of his people, or even the authority to punish them. A part of him still wondered what information they lost by not keeping Samsin around a little longer.

“I will not have you challenging my authority in front of others, Gavin,” Brisson said. Gavin noted with interest that, despite the clear irritation he’d seen earlier, Brisson’s voice was calm, collected, and dispassionate. He’d clearly had practice in containing his emotions.

“I wouldn’t do that to you,” Gavin said. “I know what that is like. Nothing good comes from divided authority.”

Brisson raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. “I think I may disagree with you.”

“What? That thing just now with Darryn? I wasn’t challenging your authority at all.”

“Really? You countered my orders in front of my steward regarding punishment of that lawbreaker and then again when you said you’d granted him authority to violate the laws of this community.”

“Ah, well, the problem with that argument is that you assume you have authority over my people. You don’t.” Gavin scratched at his chin, but met Brisson’s gaze with eyes as hard as he could imagine. “I do. While it is regrettable that your laws were violated and you feel affronted, you have no authority to either detain or punish any of my people.”

Brisson slapped a hand down on the table hard enough to send several papers fluttering to the floor. Gavin did his best not to breathe in the dust the action also threw into the air and had to force down a sneeze.

“We took you in on a kindness. You eat our food and live in homes we built. That makes you subject to our laws and rules. You have done nothing to earn your stay here! You’re more impudent and disrespectful than a child.”

Gavin leaned forward. “We are grateful for your hospitality here, but you are not the host. Nikanor created this place and granted you leave to be here. Just as he saved you, he saved us and gave us leave to be here.” Brisson looked like he was about to argue, so Gavin bowled on, using a tactic that had been used on him more than once in his life. “But, you are right in that we have not yet earned our stay here. That is something I would like to rectify.”

“Good,” Brisson interjected as soon as Gavin took a breath. “Shaw has today’s list of assignments—”

“Yes, I’m sure he does,” Gavin interrupted, raising his voice ever so slightly. “But I’d rather discuss them with you directly. We are not woodworkers or smiths. The Rahuli are warriors. Some few of us have skills in other areas. Fighting, killing, protecting—that’s what we do.”

“We have no need of warriors here,” Brisson said, leaning back in his chair. “We have need of those who contribute to the community.”

“I’ve seen your warriors, Brisson. Cobb could take any of them apart without breaking a sweat and he’s in his sixth decade and walks with a cane. Besides, I know the Orinai patrols are out there still looking for us.”

“Where did you hear that?” Brisson said.

“I was in the medical building when the last patrol came in. I saw what happened.”

Brisson cursed. “This is your fault. None of my people would be dying if you hadn’t brought the patrols this way by leaving a trail straight to us.”

Gavin nodded, sensing an opening. “So let us atone for it. My people will run the patrols on foot and in the air. None of your people will have to protect us, but we can protect them. We will earn our keep that way.”